December 18, 2015

I'm back for my annual list of favorite songs. Did you miss me? If so, check me out Twitter,Soundcloud and/or Tumblr. 2015 was a year of unexpected pleasures. I celebrated my birthday with friends in Los Angeles (and loved it, much to my surprise) and spent a few amazing weekends in New York. All of that was soundtracked by the songs below, listed in no order. I hope you find something new.

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1. White Light Shura SONG OF THE YEAR #1 (it's a threeway this year)

You have to stick with the monolithic 7 minute version. This track was, for much of the summer, my
pick for the best song of 2015. There is a shimmery
breakdown at 4:40 followed by a stunning rev back up with a wicked guitar
solo at around 5:45. Who does that anymore? Note that Shura’s other big single this
year, 2Shy, is a like a Janet song that didn’t make Unbreakable.

2. Take Me Away Janet Jackson SONG OF THE YEAR #2

From a near perfect
comeback album. No one really knows how
long Janet, Terry and Jimmy worked on Unbreakable – the whole thing is
shrouded in pleasing mystery – but the songs
sound as if they cooked for a long time. Like many of Janet’s records,
the ad libs alone are thrilling – I always repeat the bit at 2:40 when she she sings, “take me away, awww just take me away “

3. Cool On Fire Daniel Johns SONG OF THE YEAR #3 You may not know his name, but you may
remember Daniel Johns for two reasons: in the 90's, he wasthe Jodie Foster-lookalike lead singer of Silverchair. Later he became famous as Natalie Imbruglia’s husband. This track, for me, is about the intersection of desire and vulnerability: “It was getting a
little hard / Not to think about each other.. It was getting a little
harder / Trying to keep it undercover / I was feeling insecure / Trying to get your body close to mine.”Mmmhmm. I know.

4. I Want You Wrabel

Wrabel was recommended to me,
like Daniel Johns, by Chartrigger. By sheer dint of positioning behind
the above track on a summer vacation playlist, I became obsessed with this story
of clinging to someone who's done
you wrong. “ …don't know why I want you, when I know you're the wrong
thing / Don't go, you're the only thing that makes me feel something…
and I want you.”

5. How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful Florence + The Machine

Hard to choose my
favorite lines from Flo’s open-hearted title track, inspired by the big
sky of southern California (which I too discovered in 2015). Is it “What
are we gonna do? / We've opened the door,
now it's all coming through / Tell me you see it too / We opened our
eyes and it's changing the view.. “ or this beautiful description of a
lover: “And every day I wore your face / Like an atmosphere around me /
The satellite beside me.” Find me a more perfect string arrangement than what carries the final two minutes of this song out.Listen to How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful on YouTube

6. As Far As I Could GetFlorence + The Machine

Never released
digitally – this is the b-side to the 12” limited release of the album’s
first single. But it’s perfect. Again, it’s suffused with Los Angeles:

7. Messiah Madonna We’d been yearning for so long for this Madonna, wrapping love and
religion into a mystical song that recalls her Ray Of Light
spirituality. Listen to Messiah onYouTube

8. Shine Years and Years

It’s very hard to choose one song from the flawless debut, Communion. This one wins for its romantic hook: “It's you that I've been waiting to find,” but I love the chorus
lyric that captures the kind of perfect life moment you relive in your head for… years and years: “I'm holding it all tonight, unfolding it all tonight… It's you that I've been waiting to find.” Olly is so ebullient – he’s the sweetest pop star.

9. Paris Fickle Friends
My favorite indie pop group keeps releasing one sweet single after
another, with a now recignixael sound. Paris pushed the boat out a bit
with a mellower tempo.

10. I Can Change Brandon Flowers.
WHO KNEW this oughties dear would come back and slay with his second
solo album (and hairstyle)? It was so left field – and probably not a
little due to producer Ariel Rechtshaid. Leave it to the pleasingly
ambiguous Lafleuer to build a perfect up-tempo moment
of a sample from Bronski Beat’s coming-out classic,Smalltown Boy.

11. Criminals MS MR

"I just wanna be a criminal with you." I never got this band until I heard this track (and the equally strong Painted) from their second LP. It's really all about Lizzy's voice, isn't it? It has a crisp edge that I love - you can't fuck with her.

I don’t know who they are either…. and I don’t know that her LP had much impact, but Cold is airtight. The video is clever too, though they look like two librarians smirking through an experience they didn't expect to have.

13. Better Than That Marina And The Diamonds

Wins for the best
middle eight of 2015: “Well, I guess it’s just
what humans do / Hook up with other people until it all falls through /
And when it’s over they go out and try and heal
their pain / Hook up with another lover, do it all again… I’m not
passing judgment on her sexual life / I’m passing judgment on the way
she always stuck her knife / In my back ever since we were starting out /
Suspicious from the start, I always had my doubts
about you.”Listen to Better Than That on YouTube

14. Never A Woman White Sea
Another song recommended by a friend on Twitter, Never A Woman that takes its time and eases up next to you until you end up spending the weekend with it.

15. Lights Hurts

This band has
embarrassed me from album two onward. But this track, produced by… yep,
Ariel Rechtshaid, is a perfect disco jam. It was accompanied by the most electrifying video of the year. In fact, I doubt
I would have even bothered to play this track were it not for the
revelation of Theo as a dancer extraordinaire in this clip.Watch Lights on Vevo

16. What Do You Mean? Justin Bieber
I know. but here we are: Donald Trump is a leading contender for President and I’m trilling on this little douchebag. He's made a song so
well suited to both himself and the zeitgeist. I even felt defensive for
him when Lena Dunham accused him of contributing
to rape culture with these lyrics, which I read as a genuine
reaction to the mysteries of women: “What do you mean? /
When you nod your head yes / But you wanna say no?” Had the no and yes been reversed, Lena would have had a point. Whatever. Watch What Do You Mean? on YouTube

17. Water Under The Bridge Adele
The ballyhooed 25 didn’t really ballyhoo me, but I appreciate the (much
needed) jauntiness of this track – and a very pop vocal from her.

Morten is still hot. Thank God. I think he has the Paul Newman gene that will keep him in the game until he drops dead.This is the melancholy title track of their back-from-the-dead album. They're one of those bands that keep fake retiring.

19. Loudspeaker MUNA Each year my list has several artists or bands that have yet to release an album. MUNA is sparking new female trio from Los Angeles nails modern pop. The vocalist is fantastic and all three of their released songs are strong. Looking forward to 2016 with these women. "If I feel like crying, I won't hide it."

20. North Circular Real Lies

So distinctly British. I love the East London poetry of this piece, one of the more melancholy on their debut album: "Suicide bridge and the morning watch / The royal fumes and fate wires and the things that pick up and kick off / And the roar of the spit on the roads, the central reservation / The rapturous players at the petrol station."

21. My Boy My Town Mabel
First, Mabel is the lookalike daughter of Neneh Cherry and Cameron McVey. Her musical pedigree is pretty epic, but Mabel delivers on this track, which has a strong Jessie Ware vibe. It's smooth af. Discovered on December 19 and put on this list on December 21. BAM.

22. The Point Of It All Anthony Hamilton
From the Empire soundtrack. [Pause: COOKIE!] This is a rerecording of an earlier song, but this simple piano version is an instant standard. "I can't stay away from you baby / Don't wanna be without you... Whenever we're apart / It damn near starves my heart."

23. Pressure Off Duran Duran with Janelle Monae and Nile Rodgers
The best Duran single in about 15 years. With Nile's slinky guitar, it's a worthy follow up to Notorious. This is a pure summer party anthem and it makes me so happy. "Something is happening to me, maybe it's happening to you you YOU?"What did I miss? Let me know!
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Here are some songs that made it to this list and were cut and added and cut at various times:

It was Madonna’s 47th birthday and she was seriously hung up. Fans had been waiting for over two years for new music, when a horse bucked our Lady Of The Manor right into an English hospital with a broken collarbone, hand and ribs. Going into fall of 2005, Madonna had something to prove. In the highs and lows of her career, 2003’s tense, folky American Life was a comedown from the successes of Ray Of Light and Music. Those fans felt they’d allowed their queen her Indigo Girls moment and now they wanted classic Madonna dance jams. Rumors circulated about a single inspired by ABBA and then… SPLAT! Just weeks before she was to release her new single, she was busted up, drugged up and out of her usual control. The first thought was not really for Madonna… “Umm, is the album delayed?”

Note that I wrote this while spinning the gorgeous double pink disc of this gem. Fabulous.